Grading-plow.



No. 705,155. Patented July 22, I902.

J. sowonos.

GRADING PLOW.

(Application filed Oct m, 1901.]

(N0 Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN SOWORDS, OF DENVER, MISSOURI.

GRADING-"PLOW.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 705,155, dated July 22,1902. Application filed October 18, 1901. Serial No. 79,106. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,J0HN SowoRDs, a citizen of the United States,residingatDenver,in the county of Worth and State of Missouri, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Grading-Flows and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to plows,which while useful for all of the variouspurposes for which such an instrument is usually found desirable will befound especially advantageous for grading roadways and other similarwork.

The object of my invention is to provide a grading-plow by means ofwhich the work of throwing the soil toward the center of the road andleaving the surface thereof smooth will be greatly facilitated.

Other objects and advantages will be made clearly apparent from thefollowing specification,considered in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, made a part of this application, in which- Figure 1illustrates my invention complete ready for use. Fig. 2 is a detail inperspec tive showing the regulating-lever separated from the otherparts.

In order to conveniently designate the elements of my invention andcooperating accessories, numerals will be employed, of which 1 indicatesthe beam of the plow,which may be formed in the usual or any preferredway,as with the enlarged rear end 2, the forward end thereof beingprovided with any preferred form of clevis 3,whereby the team or teamsdesigned to draw the plowover the ground may be attached.

My improved plow is provided in substantially the usual manner with theshare i c,preferably provided with the oolter 5 and the moldboard 6, andis also provided with a suitable form of seat 7, adapted to accommodatethe operator. A suitable platform is also provided below the seat uponeach side of the section 2 to accommodate the feet of the operator, asindicated by the numerals 8 and 9, therebyprovidingconvenientaccommodation for the driver. The moldboard may be reinforcedand sustained in its operative position by suitable braces,as indicatedby the numeral10, and in order that the cutting depth of the plow may bereliably controlled I provide the regulating-arm 11, which in thisinstance will be seen to be formed of a continuous piece of suitablematerial, as by bonding a rod or heavy pipe in the form presented inFig. 2 and indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1. The regulating-arm 11may be integrally formed with the controlling-lever 12 or said lever maybe otherwise attached to said bar, as will be obvious.

At a convenient point upon the rear end of the beam 1 I secure in anypreferred way the segmental rack-bar13, the teeth of which are designedto cooperate with the detent 14:, carried by the lever 12, said detentbeing readily controlled by the auxiliary pivoted lever 15, carried bythe lever 12, at a convenient point to be grasped by the operator.

Designed to cooperate with the controlling bar 11 is the gage-runner 16,properly secured to the head or lower end 17 of the shaft 18, whichlatter is rotatably mounted in a suitable aperture provided in theforward end of the beam, as indicated in Fig. 1, it being understoodthat said shaft 18 is longitudinally movable as well as rotatable. Theupper end 18 is passed loosely through a suitable aperture provided inthe forward end of the lever 19 and is held against casually slippingthrough said aperture, as by the key 20 or other preferred means. Bythus mounting the shaft 18 in an aperture provided in the lever 19 it isobvious that said shaft is left free to rotate, but is prevented fromhaving a longitudinal movement by the position of said lever. The lever19, however, is rendered adjustable by mounting the same upon the lug orjournal 21, carried upon the upper ends of the bracket 22, the latterbeing bolted or otherwise secured to the contiguous part of theplow-beam, it being understood that the lower end of the aperture in thelever 19, adapted to receive the lug or journal 21, is slightly enlargedto permit the ends of said lever to be freely raised and lowered sufficiently to operate the shaft 18. The free end of the lever is providedwith a handle, as indicated by the numeral 23. The free end of the lever19 may, therefore, be readily disposed in an adjusted position, where itmay be reliably secured by passing the same into ICQ any one of a seriesof notches 24, formed upon the contiguous edge of the standard 25, thelatter being firmly secured to the upper side of the beam at aconvenient point thereon.

The gage-runner 16 is adapted to perform a twofold office inasmuch as itmay be dis posed so that said gage runner or blade will ride over thesurface of the ground and will hold the forward end of the beam at thedesired height, the position of the gage-runner being regulated in themanner above set forth by means of the standard 25, and it is thereforeclear that the forward end of the beam may be readily disposedrelatively to the surface of the ground. Another use to which thegage-runner 16 may be placed is that it may be turned so as to occupy anoblique angle with respect tothe plane of the beam and secured in suchposition by passing a pin through the aperture 26, extending through theshaft 18, and the forward end of the lever 19. When the gage-runner 16is employed for the purpose of regulating the height of the beam fromthe surface of the ground, no pin is necessary in the aperture 26; butshould it become desirable the lower end of the gagerunner may be turnedslightly inward, when the single transverse aperture provided in theshaft 18 will be brought into registration with the aperture 6 in theend of the lever 19, and-a'pin can thus be inserted in said registeringapertures, so as to hold the shaft in said adjusted position. Inasmuchas but one adjustment, as described, is necessary only one hole in theshaft 18 will be required for this purpose. By thus disposing thegagerunner obliquely with respect to the beam and sharpening the forwardedge thereof it is obvious that it will act as a colter and will cut theline of the furrow and sever any roots or the like in advance of thecolter 5, thereby enabling the colter to more reliably perform itsoflice.

The curved bar 11, it is obvious, may be disposed at any preferredheight by a proper adjustment of the lever 12 with respect to therack-bar 13, inasmuch as said bar is designed to bear upon or engage thecontiguous unplowed surface of the soil, which is usually foundsufficiently firm to sustain the pressure placed upon said bar by theplow, thereby holding the plow so that it will take into the soil to theproper depth or extent desired.

My improved plow and grader may be formed of any preferred material andmade of any size deemed most suitable to meet all the requirements ofsuch an instrument, and while I have described the preferredconstruction and combination of elements deemed necessary inmaterializing my invention it will be understood that I desire tocomprehend in this application all substantial equivalents andsubstitutes as may be considered to fall fairly within the scope andpurview of my invention.

Having thus fully described the construction and operation of myimproved grader, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is-

The herein-described combined plow and grader comprising a suitable beamprovided with a share and moldboard and a cooperating colter, a suitableseat secured to the beam, in combination with a regulating-bar 11provided with the adj usting-lever 12 having means to hold said lever inthe desired position and an auxiliary regulating gagerunner 16 and alever 19 cooperating therewith whereby said gage-runner may be adjustedas desired all combined substantially in the manner specified and forthe purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN SOWORDS.

Witnesses:

W. R. SMITH, A. D. MANING.

